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Creativity by Kids (CBK) Small Grants Program

Announcing the 2021 CBK Small Grants Awards

The Kenosha Community Foundation is pleased to announce that the following organizations have been awarded 2021 Creativity by Kids (CBK) Small Grants:

  • $1,000 to the Pringle Nature Center to establish “eco-caching” sites at Bristol Woods County Park – participants will use Global Positioning Systems (GPS) to explore the sites.
  • $1,000 to Hawthorn Hollow (through the Hyslop Foundation) to create a new interpretive trail for visitors to learn about the cultural, historical, and environmental landmarks as well as for self-directed nature scavenger hunts at the site.
  • $500 to Lemon Street Gallery and ArtsSpace for its Plein-Air painting program – directed at youth and to take place around Kenosha’s Union Park.
  • $500 to the Bong Naturalist Association to help complete the Nature Explore Classroom (NEC) at the Richard Bong State Recreation Area – a fully accessible and unique outdoor, free play space to all ages, abilities, and sensitivities.
  • $500 to St. Matthew’s Lakefront Eldergarten for refurbishments and upgrades (including raised beds and walkways) at the community garden.
  • $500 contribution to the Root-Pike Watershed Initiative Network for the completion of their Pollinator Patch program.

    • The Foundation’s Board of Directors approved the awards which were recommended by a review committee comprised of community volunteers. This year, the review committee ensured that organizations selected for the grants had established COVID-19 safety protocols for their proposed programs. Nearly all of the 2021 CBK grant-funded programs will take place outdoors.

    Note that the $4,000 in 2021 grant awards was derived from a Giving Circle made up of two sources: $3,500 – from income earned by the Clark-Barber Family Fund and the Kubasiewicz Family Trust along with $500 in donations received for CBK grants from community members.

    In addition to the six CBK grants, thanks to donations (from the members of the Foundation’s CBK Small Grant review committee and the donors), a seventh applicant, the Kenosha Opera Festival (KOT), was offered a $300 challenge grant. The Foundation will donate a dollar-for-dollar match for the first $300 that the KOT raises in an upcoming spring fundraising effort.

    Purpose of the CBK Small Grant Program

    The purpose of the CBK Small Grant program is to provide funds “to groups offering programs in the arts or the understanding of our natural world. It will emphasize cross-cultural and multi-generational programs in both areas, whenever possible.”

    Based on these criteria, the Foundation welcomes requests for funding for projects/initiatives in one or more of the following areas: the arts, culture, nature, and the environment:

    • The award can be used as a contribution to an existing project/initiative or to help start a new program/initiative.
    • Not-for-profit organizations, government agencies and/or educational institutions are welcome to apply.

    Source of the CBK Small Grant Program
    Funds for the CBK Grant program are derived from income from the Foundation’s Clark-Barber Family Fund and the Kubasiewicz Family Trust endowments:

  • The Clark-Barber Family Fund endowment was established in 2017 by Kenosha residents Tom and Ruth Barber Clark. NOTE: Mr. Clark – an artist and educator – created the picasette plaque that is used as the logo for the CBK Grant program.
  • The Kubasiewicz Family Trust endowment, established in 2012 by Salem Lakes resident Tom Targos in honor of his late mother Irene Kubasiewicz Targos, has previous funded grants to not-for-profit organizations including the Boys and Girls Club of Kenosha and the LGBT Center of Southeastern Wisconsin.

    • The donors designed the program to support existing initiatives in the arts, culture, nature and the environment as well as a seed for new and experimental projects in these areas.

    About the 2020 CBK Small Grants Awards

    During spring 2020, the Foundation awarded following organizations $1,000 from the CBK Small Grant program (created in 2019 by donors of two of the Foundation’s endowment funds – the Clark-Barber Family Fund and the Kubasiewicz Family Trust).

  • Hawthorne Hollow (through the Hyslop Foundation) for its Mother Nature and Me initiative
  • Kenosha Public Library for the Nature Play Plus program of StoryWalks
  • Anchor Press, Paper & Print (AP3) – formerly known as the Center for Collaborative Research – for its Press on Wheels Outreach initiative

    • In addition, thanks to donations from a group of generous donors, a fourth 2020 CBK Small Grant program applicant, Lemon Street Gallery and ArtSpace, received a $1,000 gift.